Harrelson introduced as Wayland Baptist men’s basketball coach

By SKIP LEON Skip.Leon@hearstnp.com

Published 8:41 am, Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Photo: Skip Leon/Plainview Herald

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Ty Harrelson, left, shakes hands with Director of Athletics Rick Cooper as he is introduced as the new Wayland Baptist University men's basketball coach at the Hutcherson Center Monday afternoon. Harrelson, who played for the Pioneers from 2001-03, takes over for Matt Garnett, who resigned last month to leave coaching and take a teaching job in Fort Worth. less

Ty Harrelson, left, shakes hands with Director of Athletics Rick Cooper as he is introduced as the new Wayland Baptist University men's basketball coach at the Hutcherson Center Monday afternoon. Harrelson, who ... more

Photo: Skip Leon/Plainview Herald

Harrelson introduced as Wayland Baptist men’s basketball coach

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Ty Harrelson’s basketball journey has taken him around the world. He’s played professionally in Italy, Germany, Finland and Hungary. He currently is the player/coach for a professional team in Australia which has already qualified for the playoffs.

But he considers Wayland Baptist University home ever since he starred for the Pioneers during the 2001-03 seasons. So, when he had the opportunity to return to the university, he jumped at the chance.

Harrelson, 34, was introduced at the Hutcherson Center Monday afternoon as the new Wayland Baptist men’s basketball coach. He will take over for Matt Garnett, who resigned last month to leave coaching and take a teaching job in Fort Worth.

“I love Wayland Baptist University,” Harrelson said. “For the past 12 years I have played and coached basketball all over the world. Hopefully, I’ve been an ambassador for Wayland Baptist University.”

Harrelson, who was inducted into the WBU Hall of Honor in 2014, explained his coaching philosophy in simple terms. “Let the process take care of the results.”

He also quoted the great UCLA coach John Wooden, saying, “Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.”

Harrelson has lofty goals for the Pioneers, who won the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) tournament championship last year and have qualified for the NAIA national tournament the past two years.

“Our goal is to win the SAC championship every year, be in Kansas City (site of the NAIA National Championship Tournament) every year and win a national championship every year. I won’t back down from that expectation,” Harrelson said. “And once we win one national championship, then we’ll go for two.

“I don’t know why anybody would play college basketball for any other reason than to win the championship. That’s the goal. If we don’t reach that goal, that’s okay. The guys are going to finish with a great education at a fantastic university. Hopefully, they’ll enjoy their time playing basketball during that process.”

Harrelson said the coaching job at Wayland is his dream job.

“It’s really a dream come true to come back to the school where I played and where I was such a proud member of the Pioneer basketball team,” Harrelson said. “I really loved going to school here. It prepared me for life after the university where I feel like I’ve been very successful. To be able to come back and, hopefully, mentor young men to have a similar journey as myself, I’m so excited about it.”

Harrelson has not met with the team, although he said he does know some players from when he returned to the university for a visit two years ago. He’s been busy on the phone contacting all the returning players.

“I’ve contacted all the returning players by phone. I’ve really been busy the last few days,” Harrelson said. “Most of them have a positive attitude. Coach Garnett did a great job. He recruited them. And I’m sure they’re sad that he’s going. The good thing is Coach Garnett and I have a close relationship. And I think we have similar coaching philosophies. If the guys are coming back to Wayland Baptist, I’m going to honor their scholarships. I’ll give them everything I have so they can graduate on time and become the best basketball players they can be.”

Harrelson said the way his team plays will be dictated by the talents of the players. But he has some goals.

“Clearly, we have to see what type of players we have and base our style around that,” he said. “If we’re a slow team, we don’t want to play a fast-paced offense.”

But Harrelson is looking for his team to play that style.

“My goal is to play a fast-paced, up-tempo offense where players have the green light to score as long as they’re taking the right shot. And we’ll have a process for that,” Harrelson said.

Defensively, the Pioneers will give different looks under Harrelson.

“Defensively, we’ll mix it up,” Harrelson said. “We’ll play some full-court defense to speed the tempo of the game up. We’ll switch between man and zone. We will scout the other team so we know what type of offenses they’re running, who their key players are, and adjust accordingly.”

When the interview at Wayland was scheduled, Harrelson found himself in a hectic situation. He had a game in Australia on a Sunday night. At 3 o’clock Monday morning he was on a flight to the United States, scheduled to arrive Monday at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, and travel to Wayland for an interview Tuesday. Garnett picked up Harrelson at the airport and drove him to Plainview for the interview.

“It was a bit of a whirlwind,” Harrelson said.

Harrelson said he will return to Australia July 27 for the playoffs. But he’ll be back at Wayland Aug. 10 for the start of the school year. Depending on how far his Australian team goes in the playoffs, he could find himself racking up some frequent flyer miles.

“There will probably be some quick trips because I need to be here on campus,” Harrelson said. “But if that’s what it takes. I want to fulfill my commitment over there and the university was aware of that. At the same time, my club in Australia knew what kind of opportunity this is for me to return to Wayland Baptist. Both of them have been fantastic and allowed me to take this opportunity.”